


Heart of the Insomniac

by rosewell893



Category: What We Do in the Shadows (TV)
Genre: Falling In Love, Hidden Depths, Insomnia, M/M, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:47:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26486668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosewell893/pseuds/rosewell893
Summary: Colin Robinson uses his draining abilities to help Guillermo with his sleeping troubles, only to unexpectedly develop strange feelings for the slumbering human.
Relationships: Guillermo de la Cruz/Colin Robinson
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	Heart of the Insomniac

Colin Robinson adjusted his beige tie while looking at himself in the mirror. His skin appeared as greyish-blue and corpse-like as ever, his hair and beard where freshly cut and shaved, and his glasses lens were polished and flaw-free. The energy vampire gave his reflection a wink and a smile as he admired himself.

"Looking sharp as ever, Colin."

The hygiene tools were put back in their places on his sink and his coat and hat were removed from their rack. He slipped them on as he made his way up the basement stairs.

What Colin noticed as soon as he got to the main level of the house was how... quiet it was. Usually, Guillermo would be awake, scribbling in his notebook or tidying up the house or something like that, but today he wasn't. He was caught off guard enough at the absence of noise from his morning cup of Joe that he stopped dead in his tracks, training his super-human senses for any sign of his whereabouts. The sweet smell of frustration caressed his nostrils and formed a trail along the hallway that led to the familiar's closet. He followed it keenly, eager to get his daily morning sip of energy.

Once he stepped up to the closet's entrance, he found the familiar laying side-ways on his bed, his eyes open and misty. He looked absolutely exhausted, but he was still awake for some reason. Colin wagered he must have been suffering from what the humans call, "Insomnia." He was _definitely_ the cause of the frustrated energy, of that Colin was entirely certain.

"Hey there, Guillermo," Colin greeted, as he pulled the curtain open slowly. Guillermo looked at him from up underneath his thin and worn blanket with defeated and pitiful eyes.

"Hey, Colin Robinson," Guillermo greeted back non-enthusiastically, slurring his words as he did so.

Colin saw himself inside of the small closet bedroom, taking his half-hearted response as clearance to strike. "So, uh, what'cha doin'? Tryin' to sleep?"

Guillermo nodded his head slowly, making the energy vampire inch even closer to his sleeping place. "You're having a hard time with that, huh?"

The human sighed and sat up from his laying position, taking the pillow that he rested his head on and placing it on his lap. Colin then took it a step further by sitting next to the sleep-deprived human on the small bed, the side of his thigh brushing against sock-covered toes. He could feel the human's energy pushing against his own, tempting him to devour it, but he resisted in favor of waiting for the right conversation trigger to bore him senseless.

"Yeah... I'm really tired, but I can't fall asleep," said Guillermo, who was fiddling with the edges of his pillow with his fingers as he spoke, "even though I've been awake for _long_ time, and even though I _really want to_ , I just can't," his voice and chin trembled at the end of his explanation, but there was no need for it because the energy vampire could feel the sadness building and overflowing inside the human before he could physically display it. Frustration and sadness were a tasty mix.

Though as Colin Robinson looked into Guillermo's worn and miserable eyes, what should have been glee at the opportunity for a good feed was instead replaced by a tinge of genuine pity. He felt an uneasy tingle up his spine as the human stared into him expectantly, waiting for his unending fact-spewing to begin.

What Guillermo got was a very stiff and awkward hand extending towards his shoulder that patted it softly. He was receiving a very unexpected and rare instance of kindness from the energy vampire.

"There, there, Gizmo," Colin consoled, purposefully misnaming the familiar. It was an act that didn't go unnoticed, as he could taste the wave of aggravation that shot out of the human because of it. He felt his insides bubble with excitement as a wide and giddy smile grew on his visage. Time for his daily morning cup of Memo.

"You know... the word 'insomnia' comes from the Latin words "in", meaning "not", and "somnus" meaning-"

Colin's lecture was cut short by the drowsy snoring that suddenly emitted from beside him. Guillermo was out like a light, with his blanket halfway down his body and his right arm dangling off the side of his bed. Colin chuckled quietly at Guillermo's perfect timing.

"Sleep."

Having gotten what he came for, he rose from the bed slowly, making the bed frame creak from the loss of weight on its worn hinges. He took a gander at the table lamp that shone bright against the dim blue light of an early winter morning. Guillermo surely wouldn't need that on, now that he was practically dead to the world. Well, at least for a few hours. Colin decided to move over to the mini-fridge and switch it off.

As his fingers brushed the metal switch, his eyes subconsciously went to the trajectory target of the light he was about to eliminate. What he didn't expect was finding himself staring at the sleeping face that was adorned by its warm glow. The look on the human's face was one of peaceful bliss, which was a stark contrast to the tired and constrained one that he usually wore around others. He appeared more youthful, more his age. The dark circles and sleep-deprivation lines faded behind the golden tone that masked them.

Colin had been zoned out on his face for what seemed like minutes before he finally snapped out of it. He shook his head, as if trying to kick-start his thinking process again, and switched off the light. The golden face he was so captivated by faded into the dark as the light bulb dimmed, blending in with the foyer's gloomy atmosphere.

He walked towards the front door with new-found earnest, eager to get out of the house after that strange episode. He was dumbfounded as to what that even was. He'd never found interest in the human's face, before. Then again, when he really thought about it, the only time he's been able to actually look at it, however briefly, is when Guillermo decides to return his gaze out of politeness, which wasn't very often and was always accompanied by an expression of irritation.

Colin didn't know what to think of this, yet. It could just be a silly trick his imagination was playing on him in his recently-awoken state. He decided to put it behind him and focus on getting to work. He was already five minutes late.

-

Guillermo awoke to a booming voice calling his name that tore through his blissful oblivion of sleep.

"Guillermo!" called Nandor, from the familiar's archway.

The summon jolted him awake into a sitting up position that was far too fast for his recently awakened body to handle. Once he was back in reality, a wave of dizziness hit him like an ocean current. He propped his head in his hands to try to ride it out, rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes and taking deep breaths.

Nandor sighed impatiently at his familiar's tardiness, "You weren't there to see me out of my coffin!" he whined scornfully.

Guillermo uncovered his eyes, his vision darting across the giant blur that was his bedroom.

"Sorry, master," he replied instinctively. "What time is it?"

Nandor looked down at Guillermo's wooden clock that rested in his nightstand, his superhuman vision clearly reading the numerals on it through the darkness. "Six thirty-seven p-ems."

He had been asleep for ten hours.

The dizziness had subsided somewhat by now, enough for him to get up from his bed and function, at least. Fatigue still weighed on his shoulders and knees as he gained his footing, making him waver slightly. Nandor jerked his arm out in reflex, but retracted it once he'd seen his familiar's posture correct itself. This didn't correct the worried furrow in his brow, however.

"Are you all right, Guillermo?"

"Mm-hmm. I'm fine," he replied, somewhat honestly, "I just need a moment to wake up."

Nandor inched back beneath the archway and grabbed the curtain, "Well, once you are woken, there are some cadavers in the cell that need disposing of."

Guillermo nodded subserviently, "Yes, master."

The vampire gave a pleased smile at his familiar's compliance. "I shall be out looking for a victim or two of my own, some fresh air would be nice."

Guillermo switched his bedside lamp on and grabbed his glasses. He put them on, clearing the blurry brown mass that obstructed his eyesight. He turned to his master with his usual polite smile and gave him a small wave.

"Alright, goodbye, master."

"Bye-bye."

Nandor dipped through the archway, making the curtain drop down as he let it go. He strode through the foyer and into the entryway, intent on opening the front door. As he reached for the handle, the door jerked open slightly, making him flinch in surprise.

"Hey, hey," greeted Colin, who peeked his head through the crack he made in the doorway. His eyes lit up at Nandor's unhappy expression. "Oh, hi, Nandor!"

Shit.

Nandor tried to straighten his face up through his irritated state. "Hello, Colin Robinson," he greeted back, his faux cordial tone laced with venom.

The energy vampire entered the house and held the door open for his roommate. Nandor took the opportunity to get the hell out of dodge. He transformed into a bat and bolted through the open doorway. Colin Robinson's act of mercy was merely an investment for later feeding, for he could get much more energy from a fed vampire than a hungry one.

As he made his way into the foyer, he spotted Guillermo pulling on some big blue rubber gloves, one of the many pieces of gear he wore during corpse dismemberments.

"Guillermo!" he greeted, in his upbeat pre-feeding tone.

The familiar's gaze landed on him from afar, full of his usual forced politeness and inconvenience of having to deal with him. He could feel the irritation swell inside the human despite his best efforts to mask it with his smile.

"Hey, Colin Robinson," he greeted back, unenthusiastically once again.

The aura of their interaction was very awkward, almost akin to two strangers meeting after an accidental one night stand. Guillermo kept his eyes averted from the energy vampire's, but Colin was nothing if not direct.

"So, how'd you sleep today?" he asked, clearly alluding to his morning feeding session.

Guillermo flashed him another polite smile in response. "Good, it was good," there was a shift in his energy, a dash of what could've been... affection? mixed itself in, "thank you, by the way."

Colin shrugged dismissively at Guillermo's words, "I'm an e-vamp. It's what I do."

As Guillermo pieced the rest of his speech of gratitude together in his head, a deep blush had crept up into his cheeks. He himself didn't know why he laid his burdens on Colin. Relying on an energy vampire for support is like relying on a sheet of crepe paper to support the weight of a watermelon. Though, it wasn't very often that anybody in the house catered to him, whatever their ulterior motives were. Or comforted him when he was at a low point. However annoying the man could be, he needed to let him know that he appreciated his act of kindness.

"I mean..." he met Colin's eyes for this, they were glossed with that same look from earlier, _that damned look_ , "you didn't _have_ to help me, but you did. And... you didn't have to comfort me, either."

A bolt of... something shot through him. Something warm and fluffy, yet powerful and sharp. Something he hadn't felt in months if not a year. It coursed through his usually cool and stoic emotional core like a shooting star in the night sky, making him physically fidget. What was it about this human's dark irises that affected him so? He didn't realize his confusion had made physical changes to his expression until Guillermo's own changed to one of mild concern. He decided to save the situation by cutting their exchange short and start walking towards the hallway.

"Eh, don't think on it too hard, there, Gizmo."

Colin could feel the little ray of hope and warmth inside of Guillermo wither away into disappointment at his words as he descended down the hall. It wasn't very potent, as the familiar had grown used to being given the cold shoulder by his vampire roommates, but it was still there. He wanted to kick himself for starting that whole interaction in the first place. His gluttonous ways would be the death of him.


End file.
